Still Waiting
by IceByrd67
Summary: Caylon's remembering her past and learning about her past. She's still waiting for the day she and Harry can be a family again. PRELUDE TO 'A Family That Cares'


DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything that belongs to J.K. Rowlings, obviously. I do whoever own everything you haven't seen in the Harry Potter Series.  
  
This is a prelude to 'A Family that Cares'  
  
Still Waiting  
  
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Hi. I'm Caylon Sharla Mikens. I'm just your ordinary girl. At least I was your ordinary girl.  
  
One day, when I was about 9, things started to happen around me. Things I couldn't explain. I was constantly levitating. People I didn't like were ending up in strange situations. Like John, the bully who used to steal my lunch, he ended up on top of the school one day while he was chasing me. I couldn't explain any of these things. Not until a letter arrived at my home the day I turned 10 years old.  
  
That day, while my mother and I were having our traditional backyard picnic dinner when an owl suddenly swooped down and dropped a letter in my lap. I was frightened, yes, but the letter was addressed to me in the dark green ink. The paper it was written on was a bit yellow with age or something and it had such a mysterious air to it, it felt so right. Before my mother could take it from me, I got up and ran to my hiding spot. It was a little cave, just off into the woods. I lit one of the candle stubs I had stolen from home and ripped the letter open.  
  
'Dear Miss Caylon Mikens,  
  
We are happy to inform you that you have been accepted to Salem Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'  
  
I froze, rereading the words over and over. 'Salem Academy of Witchcraft.' My thoughts froze on that one word, 'witchcraft'. It explained everything, all the confusion, fears, pain, lack of something all explained in one word, 'Witch'. That was what was missing in my life. I was missing the part that makes me who I am.  
  
I felt my hideout and returned to my mother and held the letter out to her as she sobbed.  
  
"I had hoped that this would never find you!" She had sobbed. I felt so hurt. My own mother had known what that empty space in my heart was. "How can I give you back to them? After they had taken the life of my precious Caitlin! Now they want to take you back!" I was confused. What was mother talking about? Who was Caitlin and who wanted to take me? I had so many questions and was so young. I didn't know what to do, so I said the one word that filled my empty space.  
  
"Witch." I said out loud, proudly.  
  
"NO!" Mother shrieked, covering her ears from my words. "You're not!"  
  
"WITCH!" I screamed, hoping the word would make everything okay again. "That's what I am! That's what you've been hiding from me! That's what fills my empty space!" I turned and ran into the house and up into my room. I reread the letter, finishing it this time. There would be a train to get me to school, but I would have to get to Boston. I began to sob, knowing that my mother, or who ever she was to me, would never take me to Boston.  
  
Suddenly a cannon boomed out of nowhere. I ran down the stairs to find that the boards that had covered our fireplace had been blasted off and a man stood where they used to be.  
  
"You must be Caylon." He said, shaking the rumble from himself. He was a rather tall, muscular man with a handsome face. "Hello!"  
  
"Umm... Hi." I said trying to decide if I should ran and hide or ran and hug him.  
  
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! YOU CAN'T TAKE HER BACK FROM ME! SHE'S MY DAUGHTER!" My mother came running into the room, brandishing a bit of lead piping.  
  
"Do off, you git." He said, grabbing the pipe and bending it into a pretzel. "Now, Caylon, I think that it's mighty high time that we get off to Boston. I wouldn't want to have you miss the school train. And we still need to pick up your school supplies. Come along." He lit the fire behind him. Five seconds later, it looked as if it had been burning, cheerfully for hours.  
  
"Who are you?" I asked, taking his hand. I didn't know who he was, but I trusted him with all my life. Something inside just told me to.  
  
"I'm Brig, Matthias Brig. Call me Brig. I'm the Keeper of Key and Grounds at Salem Academy." He answered, throwing some kind of powder into the fire. "Now hold on to me, okay? I don't want you getting lost in the fire. Come on, now." He walked into the fire and yelled, "The Public!" We swirled around dizzyingly and suddenly; we were standing on the ground, upright and still.  
  
"Where are we?" I asked, looking around in the dark little pub.  
  
"The Public. One of the best places to get drinks." He answered.  
  
"AH! Brig! The usual?" The barkeep asked, putting down his towel.  
  
"No, Jake. I'm here on Salem business. This is Caylon Sharla Mikens." Everyone froze and turned to look.  
  
"This is Marina's daughter? The one that she gave her life to save? Your..." Jake started.  
  
"My charge." Brig interrupted, not letting the other man finish. "Come along, Caylon. It's mighty high time we be getting along to Diagon Alley. That would be the sure bet to get your things from school. It is in Britain, but lucky, The Public has a private access to it." I followed him of course.  
  
"Brig? Who's Marina? Why were they saying I'm her daughter?"  
  
"Look." Brig turned to face me. He squatted so that he could look me in the face. "You aren't Christine's daughter. She adopted you when you were a child. She and Marina were friends, even though Marina was a witch and Christine was a Muggle. That's a non-magic person. Christine knew about our world. When you were still a child of 8, there was a man name Voldemort and he was a very bad man. He was a dark, evil wizard with a lot of power. He came to Salem, where you had once lived. To kill your Mother. At that time, she had been carrying Christine's child, Caitlin. Voldemort believe Caitlin was you and killed them both, while Christine fled with you. You had four older brothers and they all perished soon after, except for one and he was the oldest one of them all. Your mother was an old woman, not a young one. She was close to 50 years of age when you were born. Your brother was close to 30 when all of this happened. He lived in Britain with his young wife. Two years later, they had a child. James died protecting his wife and child. Lilly died a few minutes later, trying to protect their child, Harry. Then Voldemort tried to kill Harry, but it didn't work. Instead, Voldemort disappeared. Harry went to go live with his Uncle and Aunt on his mother's side. You nephew Harry is 1 year old now."  
  
"Then why don't I remember anything about Marina? If this was only 2 years ago, why don't I remember?" I yelled, not knowing what to do.  
  
"In order for you to live safely, without the threat of Voldemort's followers coming after you, we had to modify your memories and change anything that had Marina in it to Christine. We needed you to believe that Christine was your mother."  
  
"What about my father? Where is he? Did he die?" Brig grew quiet.  
  
"No. He didn't die. He was your mother's second husband. He was nearly 25 years younger than her but he loved her greatly. He felt like such the coward that he couldn't do anything to protect his only daughter, so he fled. He ran back to his childhood school to be the Groundskeeper."  
  
"Where can I find him? Where can I find my father?" I asked, crying.  
  
"I can't tell you. I promised him I wouldn't. I know your father very well and I know he still loves you." Brig answered. "Now that you know, do you want to go get your things for school?"  
  
"Yes, Brig." Said I, wiping the tears away from my face. "Do Harry's aunt and uncle treat him well?"  
  
"I'm afraid not, Caylon. They don't treat him well at all."  
  
"Then I will go to school and learn all I can and make a life for Harry and I. If he is the only family I have left, we will be together." I decided.  
  
"I'm afraid you can't do that. Not until we get the consent of his Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore. But we'll try." Brig said, tapping his wand against the bricks behind the trashcans. Suddenly the wall opened up to reveal a beautiful alley overflowing with hundreds of Witch and Wizards, goblins and ghosts, everything that had once haunted my dreams.  
  
"First, we'll get you your money. At Gringotts the only wizard bank in the world. No safer place than Gringotts, except maybe Hogwarts or Salem." After we had gotten my money, Brig left me at the place to get my robes while he went off in search for something to settle his stomach after that horrid cart ride.  
  
I walked into the shop, a little afraid.  
  
"Hello dear! Are you for Hogwarts?" I looked up at the woman who was busily fitting a young boy of my age. I caught my breath at the sight of the boy. He was handsome, with his flaming red hair and easy grin.  
  
"No ma'am." I finally answered. "Salem Academy, ma'am." I curtseyed, not being able to think of anything else to do.  
  
"That's wonderful. I hardly get any more from Salem, now that that woman Clara opened her shop in Boston. I'm so glad your mother brought you here. Up on the platform, right here next to this young man."  
  
"My mother didn't bring me. My mother died years ago." I answered quietly, but I got on the platform anyway.  
  
"I'm sorry." The boy said. He turned and held his hand out. "I'm William. William Weasley, but call me Bill."  
  
"Caylon. Caylon Mikens. At least I think its Mikens."  
  
"It's Potter, Caylon." Brig interrupted, walking into the shop. "If you want to use your mother's first husband's name. That's the one she used. I would give you your father's but he asked me not to."  
  
"Potter? Are you related to The-Boy-Who-Lived?" Bill asked. I looked up at Brig. He didn't answer so I did.  
  
"If The-Boy-Who-Lived is Harry Potter, then yes. He is my brother's son." I said.  
  
"Okay. You're done now, child." The woman helped me down.  
  
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Bill. I hope to see you again." I said, shaking his hand.  
  
"Would it be okay if I owled you?" He asked, looking at his feet.  
  
"Owled?" I asked, confused.  
  
"Owl mail. Wizard's way of mail." Brig explained.  
  
"Of course!" I answered Bill, excitedly. "I'll be looking forward to it, Bill."  
  
"That's great!" He yelled, bouncing out of the shop.  
  
.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.  
  
"Can you take me to go see Harry?" I asked Brig. "I want to at least meet my nephew."  
  
"I can. But I don't promise that it will be nice and pretty. And you can't go see him all the time. He mustn't know you. That could endanger his life." Brig took my hand and together we went to Privet Drive, where Harry now lived with his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley.  
  
I knocked softly on the door.  
  
"GO AWAY!" A voice yelled though the door.  
  
"I'm here to see Harry." I yelled back. There were a few minutes of muttering before the voice answered,  
  
"No one here named Harry. Go AWAY!" Brig growled in frustration and used his wand to pop the lock. He opened the door and pushed his way in. "GET OUT OR I'LL CALL THE POLICE!"  
  
"Look!" Brig yelled. "We're only here for a minute so that Caylon may see her nephew and then we'll leave. You'll never have to see us again!"  
  
"If the boy has an Aunt, why doesn't he live with her?" The woman, Lilly's sister screamed.  
  
"Because I'm only ten years old, you dolt." I answered. "Where is my nephew?" I demanded, looking about. Then I saw him. He was dressed in oversized rags that could possibly be called clothes and he was struggling to crawl to me. I smiled and picked up my dear nephew and kissed his soft cheek.  
  
"Go into the living room, Caylon. We'll give you a few minutes with him before we go back to Boston." I didn't answer. Just carried my precious cargo into the room and sat down on the couch.  
  
"Harry. We're so much alike. No family that cares. I don't want you to grow up without someone to love you. I promise I'll try my hardest to get custody of you. I'll study hard and do all I can to get you into my arms again. You'll always be loved, Harry. I promise that." I reached a finger up and traced the scar on his forehead. I bent my head and spoke a pray to the Goddess.  
  
"Caylon? It's time to leave." Brig stuck his head into the room. I sighed, not ever wanting to put my only family down.  
  
"Brig? Do you have a camera? I want a picture of Harry before we leave." Brig didn't say anything but conjured a camera out of nowhere. I filled the camera with nothing but pictures of Harry, Brig and myself. "Thank you, Brig." I said, placing it into my bag. I carried the sleeping child over to his Aunt Petunia. "Take good care of Harry for me. I'll be working on getting custody of him." I told her.  
  
"Good." She said, gutturally.  
  
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I took a big breath before walking through the doors of Salem Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I walked in and immediately became immersed in a world I fell in love with. I was a Witch and I could say it proudly.  
  
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I was having so much fun at school, with Bill writing me and being surrounded by all my friends. Until one day I got a short brief letter the read,  
  
'Brig is fatally ill and wishes to see you before he passes on.'  
  
I did the only thing I could. I grabbed my things and ran out of my Last Year Potions class. I tore across the grounds and literally ran into the door of Brig's cabin.  
  
"Brig!" I cried, collapsing next to him. "Brig! Why didn't you tell me you were sick? Why didn't you tell me? Don't leave me!" I sobbed into his chest. He wheezed as he took a breath.  
  
"I didn't want to worry you, Caylon. I'm very sorry." He coughed. His cough was a hacking, dry cough. "I wanted to tell you about your father before I die."  
  
"I don't care about him. I care about you!"  
  
"Caylon, I've been sick for a very long time. There's nothing I can do about that. I have cancer."  
  
"You could have done something about it! You could have gone to see the Mediwizards! You know they can cure cancer!"  
  
"That's not the natural order of thins, Caylon. I was fated to die here and now. Let it go and hear about your father!" I got quiet and looked into his eyes. Brig had never yelled at me in the 7 years I've known him. "He wanted you to know that the school he used to go to was Salem Academy." I got quiet and hug Brig, sobbing.  
  
"I'm so sorry daddy! I never should have yelled. Please don't leave me. I've never had a father before! I love you, Daddy!"  
  
"I love you too." He whispered, before leaving me alone. The only family I had left was halfway across the world in Britain, turning 8 in a few months. The only family I had left was Harry.  
  
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^  
  
'Dear Caylon,  
  
I heard about your father, Brig. I know this doesn't sound like much, but I'm sorry. I was wondering if this summer holiday, if you would like to come see me. It would mean a lot to me. Please think about it. I miss you.  
  
Yours forever, Bill.'  
  
I cried after reading the letter. I didn't deserve to have Bill as a friend. He was too good to me.  
  
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^  
  
So here I am, 7 years later, Caylon Sharla Brig. I gave up the Mikens to my name and I just didn't feel as if Potter fit. After all, that was my half brothers' name, not mine. I'm a Brig and I'm proud of it. I'm a certified Witch living in the Burrow now. So I can be near Will, as I now called Bill. And so I could be near Harry. I've been watching him from afar, waiting for an answer from Dumbledore about letting Harry come live with me. I'm still waiting. Still waiting.  
  
  
  
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A/N: hey everyone! I hope you like this little tidbit short story. It's the prelude to another story I'm planning to write. 'A Family That Cares' will be about Harry and his fifth year. And no, it won't follow anything that anyone has heard about Rowling's version of Harry's Fifth year. It'll, hopefully, be my own creation. ANYWOO, I hope you liked this one. 


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